When we first saw Ode de la méditation, by Ru Xiao Fan (on this issue’s cover), we were both intrigued and challenged. Some of us found the work beautiful, even comforting, while for others it was unsettling. Ultimately, the work sparked intense discussion around the office—not only about what the artist intended but also what the image speaks to in our own experience of meditation.

In his award-winning series La Chute (The Fall), French photographer Denis Darzacq captures young dancers in flight as they leap and jump against the backdrop of city spaces (see page 56). The subjects appear to defy gravity and stop time, yet we’re assured by the artist that the images have not been digitally manipulated. Initially inspired by a news report about hip-hop dancers, Darzacq “borrows street culture’s forms of expression and uses them as a tool for freedom.”

The thangka on The Last Page by Nepali artist Mukti Singh Thapa depicts the protector deity Mahakhala, a fierce and powerful emanation of Avalokiteshvara. The artist is well known for helping revive the Newar Design style popular in the Himalayas in the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries and paints exclusively using mineral and vegetable pigments.